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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Jacob Josefson will find himself in an all too familiar place tonight when the Devils host the Boston Bruins in a game pivotal to their fading playoff hopes.

Josefson will be a healthy scratch for the 42nd time this season. The 23-year-old forward also missed six games while he was ill and has played in just 21, registering no goals and just one assist.

Josefson has been the Devils’ extra forward for most of this season, but often has been overlooked when there have been openings in the lineup. That’s the case again tonight with Tim Sestito being called up to play in place of left wing Ryan Carter, who will miss his second game in a row with an upper-body injury.

Josefson filled in for Carter in Saturday’s 3-0 loss in Tampa Bay, but played just 6:34 and will sit tonight with Sestito getting the chance to play instead.

“That’s the system it’s been the whole year, I guess,” Josefson said. “They told me I played well last game, but they said they needed some more size on the line. So, there’s not much you can do.”

Josefson, who was drafted 20th overall by the Devils in 2009, has had frustrating seasons before because of injury. It seemed as if every time he was about to establish himself as a regular, he would run into bad luck health-wise – whether it was hand surgery in 2010-11 or a fractured collarbone and a fractured wrist in 2011-12.

As frustrating as those injuries were, he said this season has been even tougher to go through because he’s been healthy and still not playing.

“You’ve been playing one game here or there or maybe two games and then you’ve been out for a month and not playing even if you feel like you can,” he said. “That’s probably been more frustrating. We have a pretty deep squad here, a lot of guys. Right now, I’m the 14th, 13th option.”

Josefson cannot be sent down without clearing waivers, so instead of having the chance to at least play in the AHL with Albany, he’s ended up going through a lot of hard skates at the end of morning skates and watching games from the press box.

Josefson has tried to remain positive through it, but admitted, “It’s not the easiest thing.”

“I don’t think anything good comes of complaining” he said. “You try to keep your head high and keep working hard in practice. That’s all you can do.”

When I asked Josefson before the March 5 trade deadline if he was hoping to be moved, he said, “I just want to play.” He said that will also be his attitude this summer when he is eligible to become a restricted free agent.

“You can’t go too many seasons with just playing 20 games,” Josefson said. “I haven’t really thought about next season yet because I’m still focusing on trying to do something with this one, but there’s always that point where you have to see to yourself and your development and see where you can develop the most.”

A possible option for Josefson would be to go back to his native Sweden or sign to play elsewhere in Europe, but he said his first choice is to stay in the NHL.

“I want to play over here,” he said. “That’s my priority No. 1. That’s what I want to do.”

So, going back to Sweden or playing elsewhere in Europe is not an option he’s considering?

“That’s not what I’m thinking about right now,” Josefson said. “I know I can play in this league and I want to prove it first before I go somewhere else.”

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.